The garment knitting industry utilizes knitting machines which have a shaft which alternately rotates and reciprocates about its longitudinal axis. That is, in some knitting processes, it is required that the shaft rotate continuously in one direction; while in other knitting processes, it is required that the same shaft reciprocate, about its longitudinal axis, to rotate in one direction and then in the other direction, and repeat the process. Of course it is desirable that the rotation and reciprocation mentioned are performed at high speeds and without any significant time interval between them. Further, the knitting machine has one power input which is constantly driving, and there is therefore a clutch member which moves between the drive for the rotation motion and a drive for the reciprocation motion. This clutch action is achieved by means of a clutch shifter which is under the influence of a compression spring and an air supply, both operative in opposite directions to achieve the clutch shifting mentioned.
The present invention provides a control for the clutch, such that the shifting between the rotation and the reciprocation can be accomplished in a rapid fashion and with a minimum of impact and disturbance to the elements involved.
This invention utilizes two yielding forces which operate on a clutch shifter and it produces a consequent smooth transition from rotating the shaft to reciprocating the shaft, particularly for the use in a knitting machine. One occasion for alternating between rotation and reciprocation is in the knitting of men's socks, where the heel portion is knitted with a reciprocating motion, and other portions of the sock are knitted with a rotation motion.
An object of this invention is to provide a control for a clutch in a machine operating alternately between rotation and reciprocation, and wherein the moving parts are intermeshed in the shift action while moving at the same speed and in the same direction of rotation. This objective is accomplished by elements which control the clutch itself so that the shifting is accomplished with the aforementioned features and in a convenient and practical manner.